Okay, growing up playing games is getting depressing...

Okay so I play video games. A lot of video games, I bought 20 games on steam this last sale, playing catch-up.  But more to the point I have found that finding people who play games, who have a sustainable lifestyle is a dwindling commodity.  Just recently I agreed to go a small party as most of the people attending played video games in one form or another.  When I get there half of them are high, not belligerent, but high.  I'm talking 25 to 28 year old people who smoked in the back room, including the host.
 
And this keeps happening.  I have met with agreeable people who I later find out play games, then once we have been acquainted, strange, totally avoidable situations appear.   I know unfortunately this is the price of being a fan of such escapisms, but aren't most hobbies a form of escapism?  Why must a gaming social circle be occupied by such truly odd members.  Perhaps I am being naive in believing that this just occurs in gaming circles, but I find it increasing hard to find people who at least know how to mask their problems, or at least figure out how to keep things from becoming awkward. 
 
This is an old argument, I know.  But as I am becoming older, experiencing these things first hand is truly mind boggling.

Okay so I play video games. A lot of video games, I bought 20 games on steam this last sale, playing catch-up.  But more to the point I have found that finding people who play games, who have a sustainable lifestyle is a dwindling commodity.  Just recently I agreed to go a small party as most of the people attending played video games in one form or another.  When I get there half of them are high, not belligerent, but high.  I'm talking 25 to 28 year old people who smoked in the back room, including the host.
 
And this keeps happening.  I have met with agreeable people who I later find out play games, then once we have been acquainted, strange, totally avoidable situations appear.   I know unfortunately this is the price of being a fan of such escapisms, but aren't most hobbies a form of escapism?  Why must a gaming social circle be occupied by such truly odd members.  Perhaps I am being naive in believing that this just occurs in gaming circles, but I find it increasing hard to find people who at least know how to mask their problems, or at least figure out how to keep things from becoming awkward. 
 
This is an old argument, I know.  But as I am becoming older, experiencing these things first hand is truly mind boggling.

You think gamers are bad, you should see how anime/manga otakus are!  Seriously though, I doubt this is generally the case.  I think you just have bad luck.

I'm not following.

i like cereal

I have never ever seen a high or even a drunk gamer.... well... mabey when Rock Band or Singstar was around but I don't know if that would count. 
 
Quite the opposite here. I am a part of a group that arrange game meet ups in Sweden and if 50 people show up one or two people smoke! That's quite insane because you don't have to go further than school to realize the split is more like 60/40 or 70/30 at best. But I don't complain. It feels great that people just can enjoy gaming as it is - fun. And when you game with others it get's so much better. 
 
I'm really stunned how you have this view if gamers. Mabey it's more the people rather than that they happens to plays games?

" i like cereal "

The more hardocre you go into a hobby and it's social circle, the more awkward it generally gets.  Of course, hobbies such as gaming have a special spot in that space, so I see where your coming from.

Playing is getting to be a expensive comodity, especially where i live, so that detracts many people from it.

It is possible I have bad luck.  This experience does not injure my view of the gaming world.  I was simply letting out a thought, as I really have poor experience trying to find people to play games with.  At this point, I have resigned myself to drinking buddies.

well, half of them are high, means there's another half you seem to be forgetting about...

i only know one other person than me who plays games as avidly as me, i always thought it kinda sucked. perhaps not!

" It is possible I have bad luck.  This experience does not injure my view of the gaming world.  I was simply letting out a thought, as I really have poor experience trying to find people to play games with. "

I'm not against weed.  I just think getting high, and it being fairly obvious, before a small party has even started is the equivalent of having 4 or 5 beers before everyone else.  Such behavior is a social misstep.

" I'm not against weed.  I just think getting high, and it being fairly obvious, before a small party has even started is the equivalent of having 4 or 5 beers before everyone else.  Such behavior as a social misstep. "

" @RedEyesBlueBunny said:

" i like cereal "

I'm not too fond of Corn Flakes or an equivalent, though (no taste, yuck). "

" I'm not against weed.  I just think getting high, and it being fairly obvious, before a small party has even started is the equivalent of having 4 or 5 beers before everyone else.  Such behavior is a social misstep. "

"Why must a gaming social circle be occupied by such truly odd members.  Perhaps I am being naive in believing that this just occurs in gaming circles, but I find it increasing hard to find people who at least know how to mask their problems, or at least figure out how to keep things from becoming awkward."

It's a big world out there!! Perhaps, it may be a little too small on second thought........

A lot of my friends play avidly and yes alot of people whoa re high and drunk play games. Play any mmo and you will find them. But dude the depper you go with any hobby the creepier it gets. I used to be into warhammer and then when i started gonig to evets and shit it got really creepy but still im tottaly into DND and its not that creepy for me. And frosted flakes are the best.

" When I get there half of them are high, not belligerent, but high. "

 Perhaps I put too much emphasis on that one instance.  I too will get drunk playing video games at a friends house, especially when we a playing for 5 - 7 hours straight.  I don't have hang ups with intoxication, I was talking more on the frustration I have trying to find people who are avid about video games who are not overly strange.

Every single young male (and a lot of the females) I know is a gamer and none of them get high on a regular basis. Well some of them used to but they got over being potheads.
 
And I live in Holland (yeah that stuff is 100% legal here).

" You think gamers are bad, you should see how anime/manga otakus are!  Seriously though, I doubt this is generally the case.  I think you just have bad luck. "

 Just recently I agreed to go a small party

I have one friend who i physically still sit and play with when he is down in my area. So we usually hook up a second TV and he brings a console and we sit and game from morning late at night, sometimes 2-4 days in a row. 
   
The rest i play with online, but there is nothing like being in the same room drinking beer and playing some games, just feels great.

I find it's best to leave gaming behind closed doors.

mmm, Lucky Charms.

You know what happened at my apartment last night?  A bunch of my roommates' friends came over and we played Disney Channel Scene It.  This is what true losers do on a Saturday night, and I suggest you find a crowd that's into it.

Most of my friends are stoned all the time so I don't really see the problem. 

This thread made me realise that I haven't played games socially in over 2 years. Fuck I miss those days when me and my friends would get together and play huge multiplayer matches of halo.

Again I wasn't hung up on the getting drunk and high part.  It all can be part of a good evening.  But I have heard that being an avid follower of anything requires a bit of an odd quirk.  Maybe giantbomb can help me find my kind of weirdness.  I'm pretty sure Reese's Pieces cereal is the best.

" I'm not against weed.  I just think getting high, and it being fairly obvious, before a small party has even started is the equivalent of having 4 or 5 beers before everyone else.  Such behavior is a social misstep. "

Since this thread seems to be about gaming socially, I'll throw this in: I hate co-op.  So much.  I have no problem with the concept but, when I see developers talking about how they're focusing so much on that aspect of a game (time that could be put elsewhere in development) and seeing whole games based around co-op (Borderlands), I get frustrated.  I hate it basically because I have no friends.  Single player can be played yourself, online multiplayer doesn't require gaming buddies, but co-op is the only part of a game that I can't access.

Fuck video games, I just want friends... with a back room.

I have friends who play games, but none of them ever want to play Co-op, tis quite annoying.

there are always people that are going to be playing high. it is the new thing to do when playing video games. from watching videos of people at convection there are really weird people.

Your still alive? I thought Vader....you....but....

I'm really starting to relate to this, man. About 10 days ago, I decided I would give them up entirely. Though since then I've kind of changed my mind and just hope to cut back. I don't know. I hope to be a game designer some day, but I think before long, the day will come when I need to pretty much give them up entirely. I have big plans for myself, and spending so much of my free-time playing video games isn't going to help me get any closer to those goals.

why are people so against smoking pot?

" why are people so against smoking pot? "

Gamers are a strange breed. 
 
"We are always living in the future, don't forget that"

Wow, I don't know how many times I said I didn't care about the pot, it was the fact that it created some strange social situation that really were anti-social.  The situations caused by the people actions and judgment that were troublesome, not the pot.

" Wow, I don't know how many times I said I didn't care about the pot, it was the fact that it created some strange social situation that really were anti-social.  The situations caused by the people actions and judgment that were troublesome, not the pot. "